G protein-coupled receptors share a common structural motif. All these receptors have seven sequences of between 22 to 24 hydrophobic amino acids that form seven alpha helices, each of which spans the membrane. The transmembrane helices are joined by strands of amino acids having a larger loop between the fourth and fifth transmembrane helix on the extracellular side of the membrane. Another larger loop, composed primarily of hydrophilic amino acids, joins transmembrane helices five and six on the intracellular side of the membrane. The carboxy terminus of the receptor lies intracellularly with the amino terminus in the extracellular space. It is thought that the loop joining helices five and six, as well as, the carboxy terminus, interact with the G protein. Currently, Gq, Gs, Gi and Go are G proteins that have been identified.
Under physiological conditions, G protein-coupled receptors exist in the cell membrane in equilibrium between two different states or conformations: an “inactive” state and an “active” state. A receptor in an inactive state is unable to link to the intracellular transduction pathway to produce a biological response. Changing the receptor conformation to the active state allows linkage to the transduction pathway and produces a biological response.
A receptor may be stabilized in an active state by an endogenous ligand or an exogenous agonist ligand. Recent discoveries such as, including but not exclusively limited to, modifications to the amino acid sequence of the receptor provide means other than ligands to stabilize the active state conformation. These means effectively stabilize the receptor in an active state by simulating the effect of a ligand binding to the receptor. Stabilization by such ligand-independent means is termed “constitutive receptor activation.”
Receptors for serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) are an important class of G protein-coupled receptors. Serotonin is thought to play a role in processes related to learning and memory, sleep, thermoregulation, mood, motor activity, pain, sexual and aggressive behaviors, appetite, neurodegenerative regulation, and biological rhythms. Not surprisingly, serotonin is linked to pathophysiological conditions such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, schizophrenia, suicide, autism, migraine, emesis, alcoholism, and neurodegenerative disorders. With respect to an anti-psychotic treatment, approaches focused on the serotonin receptors, these types of therapeutics can generally be divided into two classes, the “typical” and the “atypical.” Both have anti-psychotic effects, but the typicals also include concomitant motor-related side effects (extra pyramidal syndromes, e.g., lip-smacking, tongue darting, locomotor movement, etc). Such side effects are thought to be associated with the compounds interacting with other receptors, such as the human dopamine D2 receptor in the nigro-striatal pathway. Therefore, an atypical treatment is preferred. Haloperidol is considered a typical anti-psychotic, and clozapine is considered an atypical anti-psychotic.
Serotonin receptors are divided into seven subfamilies, referred to as 5-HT1 through 5-HT7, inclusive. These subfamilies are further divided into subtypes. For example, the 5-HT2 subfamily is divided into three receptor subtypes: 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C. The human 5-HT2C receptor was first isolated and cloned in 1987, and the human 5-HT2A receptor was first isolated and cloned in 1990. These two receptors are thought to be the site of action of hallucinogenic drugs. Additionally, antagonists to the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors are believed to be useful in treating depression, anxiety, psychosis, and eating disorders.
Isolation, characterization, and expression of a functional cDNA clone encoding the entire human 5-HT1C receptor (now known as the 5-HT2C receptor) and the entire human 5-HT2A receptor are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,985,352 and 5,661,012, respectively. Mutations of the endogenous forms of the rat 5-HT2A and rat 5-HT2C receptors have been reported to lead to constitutive activation of these receptors (5-HT2A: Casey, C. et al. (1996) Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 22:699.10, 5-HT2C: Herrick-Davis, K., and Teitler, M. (1996) Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 22:699.18; and Herrick-Davis, K. et al. (1997) J. Neurochemistry 69(3): 1138).
Small molecule modulators of serotonin receptors have been shown to have a variety of therapeutic applications such as for the treatment of any of the diseases listed above. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for the preparation of compounds that can modulate serotonin receptors. The processes and intermediates described are directed to this and other needs.